Dodgers: Justin Turner Stands Alone as Greatest Postseason Performer in Franchise History
It’s been a long road for the Dodgers’ Justin Turner in his quest for a ring, but his performance this postseason has gotten his entire team within 2 games of that goal.
Turner’s impact doesn’t lie solely in his offense, as his leadership and defense have been equally important to the Dodgers’ success. But with his bat beginning to heat up as well, Justin Turner is cementing himself as the greatest Dodgers postseason performer of all time.
Showing out on the big stage is nothing new for Turner, as his career with the Dodgers has been filled with clutch hits and memorable moments. In his 7 seasons with LA, he has been dominant in every October, so much so that he now holds the team record in 5 of the major statistical categories.
The @Dodgers franchise #Postseason #?1?@Redturn2 stands alone. pic.twitter.com/JkvradbGhg
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) October 24, 2020
After his 2-5 performance Friday night, Justin Turner found out that he had tied the great Duke Snider for the Dodgers all-time lead in postseason home runs. But in typical JT fashion, the accomplishment didn’t phase him one bit.
It means I’ve had the opportunity to play on a lot of really good baseball teams who played deep in October, and I’ve gotten a lot of AB’s. Obviously it’s something that I don’t think I ever thought about or that ever crossed my mind, but it’s something that’s pretty cool that I can talk about when I’m done playing. But it doesn’t mean a whole lot until we finish this thing off and win two more games.
Final Thoughts
In many ways, Justin Turner has been the heart and soul of this franchise from the very beginning. His leadership on and off the field has held this team together and his steady production has led this team to 7 of their 8 straight Division titles.
There’s no describing what it would mean for Justin Turner to finally win a title, and we may be only a few days away from finding out. With him being a free agent at the end of this season, there are no guarantees for his future in LA. This makes it that much more important that they get the job done this time around.
Whether this is our last season with Turner or just one of the next few, he deserves to be called a World Champion after all he’s given Los Angeles. With a 2-1 series lead over the Tampa Bay Rays, the Dodgers will look to Urías and Kershaw to close this one out over the weekend.
NEXT: One MLB Hall of Famer Really Wants JT To Get His Ring
JT is the heart and soul of this team. He deserves to finally get a ring.
C’mon. Post season records in these days of ludicrous numbers of games simply can’t be compared to records from times when the only post season ball was the WS. JT tied Duke for first with 11 homers. Whoopee. It only took him 69 games compared to Duke’s 36. Ridiculous.
Snider and others probably would have hit 20/25homers in 69 games against such inferior playoff pitchers. Snider played in world series games against the best American league team. No playoffs. Best American league team against best national league team. Good for jt but no comparison. Writers need a little perspective or maybe knowledge of the game
You’re absolutely correct that the home runs alone don’t compare based on the sample sizes, but that was only the latest record that Turner tied. Outside of the home runs, you can make the case that both players produce at the same rate (Snider with 36 RBI in 26 games vs Turner with 40 RBI in 69 games) in most other areas. The article is meant to highlight Justin’s overall contributions to the team in October now that he holds or shares the lead in 5 categories, not to take away from anything Duke or others did in their time!
I’m so proud of my Grandson, not only as a Dodger but as a person with the way he knows how to pay back to our community. Our family have always been Dodger fans from the moment they moved from Brooklyn to Los Angeles, so you can just imagine our excitement the moment he became a Dodger!
MLB and modern-day announcers are to blame. You have no sense of history. Justin Turner is a excellent player and probably this team’s most clutch player. But, to say he is the greatest postseason Dodger of all time is absurd. World Series records should never be confused with “postseason” ones.